ISLAMABAD: Country Director World Bank, Patchamuthu Illangovan, along with his team, Saturday called on the Federal Finance Minister Senator Muhammad Ishaq Dar here at the Ministry of Finance.
Finance Minister’s schedule of engagements during his forthcoming visit to Washington for participation in the IMF and the World Bank Spring meetings was discussed, said a press release.
The Country Director apprised the Finance Minister regarding the work being conducted by the World Bank team to support the efforts of the government for improving data collection methodologies and rebasing the national accounts, in order to present a more accurate picture of Pakistan’s economy.
The Minister assured all necessary facilitation to the World Bank team for this task. Plans for establishing Pakistan Infrastructure Bank (PIB), in cooperation with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), were also discussed during the meeting.
The Finance Minister said, once established, PIB would complement the government’s infrastructure initiatives by enhancing private financing and investment for infrastructure projects in the country.
Referring to the recently concluded Article-IV consultations with the IMF, the Finance Minister said the government was making all necessary efforts to consolidate the economic gains made in the last three and a half years, and achieve higher, sustainable and inclusive economic growth.
In this regard, he said the government was committed to continuing the implementation of reforms in different areas of the economy.
The Finance Minister and the Country Director reaffirmed the commitment to further strengthen the partnership between Pakistan and the World Bank for the benefit of the people of Pakistan. Finance Secretary, Secretary Economic Affairs Division, and other senior officials of the Zinance and Economic Affairs Divisions also participated in the meeting.
